CVE-2022-48769
efi: runtime: avoid EFIv2 runtime services on Apple x86 machines
- Published
- Updated
- Reserved
- Assigned by
- Linux
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: efi: runtime: avoid EFIv2 runtime services on Apple x86 machines Aditya reports [0] that his recent MacbookPro crashes in the firmware when using the variable services at runtime. The culprit appears to be a call to QueryVariableInfo(), which we did not use to call on Apple x86 machines in the past as they only upgraded from EFI v1.10 to EFI v2.40 firmware fairly recently, and QueryVariableInfo() (along with UpdateCapsule() et al) was added in EFI v2.00. The only runtime service introduced in EFI v2.00 that we actually use in Linux is QueryVariableInfo(), as the capsule based ones are optional, generally not used at runtime (all the LVFS/fwupd firmware update infrastructure uses helper EFI programs that invoke capsule update at boot time, not runtime), and not implemented by Apple machines in the first place. QueryVariableInfo() is used to 'safely' set variables, i.e., only when there is enough space. This prevents machines with buggy firmwares from corrupting their NVRAMs when they run out of space. Given that Apple machines have been using EFI v1.10 services only for the longest time (the EFI v2.0 spec was released in 2006, and Linux support for the newly introduced runtime services was added in 2011, but the MacbookPro12,1 released in 2015 still claims to be EFI v1.10 only), let's avoid the EFI v2.0 ones on all Apple x86 machines. [0] https://lore.kernel.org/all/[email protected]/
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | Medium5.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.22% · top 88% of all CVEs (6 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 5.5.
Affected products
- affected d6cf86d8f23253225fe2a763d627ecf7dfee9dae – < b0f1cc093bc2493ac259c53766fd2b800e085807
- affected d6cf86d8f23253225fe2a763d627ecf7dfee9dae – < 3df52448978802ae15dcebf66beba1029df957b4
- affected d6cf86d8f23253225fe2a763d627ecf7dfee9dae – < a4085859411c825c321c9b55b8a9dc5a128a6684
- affected d6cf86d8f23253225fe2a763d627ecf7dfee9dae – < f5390cd0b43c2e54c7cf5506c7da4a37c5cef746
- affected 13fcf5d1c5fe491aeb0b0f34a46d88134432edb1
- affected 0c9673834740afdfa7c172b1b19c6b3ec5bc3907
- affected 8e221a3c057d674e3c1cc4d1d8fe65ac4697104b
- affected b3ab8b31e8b3c1ff4971bd52d0c8ebde5cfbdb97
- affected 3.2.32 – < 3.3
- affected 3.4.14 – < 3.5
- affected 3.5.7 – < 3.6
- affected 3.6.2 – < 3.7
- affected 3.7
- unaffected < 3.7
- unaffected 5.10.96 – ≤ 5.10.*
- unaffected 5.15.19 – ≤ 5.15.*
- unaffected 5.16.5 – ≤ 5.16.*
- unaffected 5.17 – ≤ *
References (4)
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b0f1cc093bc2493ac259c53766fd2b800e085807 (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3df52448978802ae15dcebf66beba1029df957b4 (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a4085859411c825c321c9b55b8a9dc5a128a6684 (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f5390cd0b43c2e54c7cf5506c7da4a37c5cef746 (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://trackcve.app/cve/CVE-2022-48769)Record last updated .